Chapter 495: Proof of the Dao, Failed Again

The shackles used for binding were melted through by the terrifying, searing force of lightning-fire punishment, turning into molten iron that dripped down.

Intense pain caused Yi Feng to collapse to his knees; beneath his skin, a dim crimson glow flickered faintly, as if hundreds of thousands of scorching, exploding lightning fires surged through him—utterly horrifying.

Yet his white robes remained pristine as ever, not a single tear or speck of dust to be found.

Jie Ye gripped his sword and turned away, refusing to glance at Yi Feng again.

So many years have passed that many have forgotten he was once the first head of Silutang of the Xiang Jianzong.

"This sword's lightning-fire punishment force can sustain his life for ten years, forcing him to endure daily and nightly the agony of bones and flesh shattering, soul and spirit burning."

Within his calm words lay a chilling dread that made the heart tremble.

"Take him back and interrogate him further on how the Cang clan has corrupted the human race."

Pretending to cooperate might yield more information, but he simply could not hold back…

"Senior, you've truly made the right choice," Ji Yin Xue said, satisfied.

"Sigh~" Jie Ye let out a soft sigh. "It's my fault for misjudging people—I raised a traitor who defected to the Cang clan, a heartless, soulless wretch."

"The fact that you've come to realize this proves you're no scheming, petty villain. I've revised my opinion of you," Ji Yin Xue nodded.

Jie Ye: "..."

Forget it. That comrade's disciple was always like this.

Cheng Ding, standing nearby, was still dazed—since just now, Jie Ye's uncle's decisiveness had far exceeded his imagination.

He had once valued Yi Feng so deeply, treating him almost like his own son…

Just as he stood frozen, Jie Ye's cold gaze swept over him.

"Cheng Ding, are you this weak? When someone insults your senior, you don't even dare kick him in the face and curse back?"

Uh…

If I curse back, isn't that cursing you?

Cheng Ding opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, ultimately saying nothing.

At that moment, from behind, the previously piercing screams grew steadily weaker.

Hm?

Jie Ye paused, turned back, and saw sweat streaked with blood rolling down Yi Feng's forehead—he was desperately suppressing the agony surging from deep within his soul.

But achieving this was immensely difficult; even his fists were clenched until blood dripped, and blood-tears streamed from his eyes.

Seeing this, Jie Ye's gaze flickered slightly.

But just as he considered whether to strike again…

"Huff~ huff~" Yi Feng gasped for breath, gritting his teeth as he asked, "Master… do you hate your disciple… this much…?"

"From the moment you defected to the Cang clan, I have never stopped thinking of flaying your skin, breaking your bones, extracting your soul, and refining your spirit," Jie Ye said calmly.

"Master… ha… do you hate the Cang clan… this much…? Eeeehhhhh!!!"

In the end, he could no longer suppress the pain and screamed again.

Zeng!

Another sword strike, wrapped in lightning-fire punishment force, unleashed countless blades of light onto his body.

"My master, my friend, my wife, my child—all died because of the Cang clan. My father and mother were devoured by outsiders," Jie Ye slowly sheathed his sword, speaking softly. "How could I not hate them?"

Night and day, whenever he recalled the past, he burned with the desire to exterminate every last Cang, to slice that beast into a thousand pieces!

To Jie Ye, those who sympathized with outsiders were simply overfed and bloated.

Hearing this, Yi Feng's Dao heart shattered completely; his eyes blazed with brilliant, multicolored light.

Yet Jie Ye merely watched him with cold eyes:

"Rest assured—before you've endured every one of my methods and spilled every secret you know, I won't let you die."

At this moment, Yi Feng's pain had surpassed all limits of endurance, yet the lightning-fire punishment force kept him alive, denying him death—he could no longer hear the rest of Jie Ye's words.

Seeing this, Jie Ye said no more and casually flicked out a thread of sword energy.

Zmm~

At first, it was only a hair-thin line, nearly invisible unless stared at closely—but in the instant it reached Yi Feng, it split into thousands upon thousands of fine strands, like silkworm silk, wrapping the screaming Yi Feng into a perfect, spherical ball.

With another wave of his hand, the sword-thread sphere, taller than a man, floated toward him, shrinking steadily as it moved.

By the time it landed in his palm, it had shrunk to the size of a thumb.

"Take him back and lock him in the deepest cell of Silutang's Sha Jie Prison," Jie Ye tossed the bound sword-thread sphere to Cheng Ding. "Your injuries are too severe—return quickly and rest."

Then, he bowed deeply and sincerely to the guards present.

"I once committed a grave error—I raised such a disciple."

The situation back then was extremely chaotic; Yi Feng's younger brother was killed during the great purge for breeding countless sword slaves and using blood rituals to forge swords.

But at the time, he still held this beast in high regard, and the Xiang Jianzong had been completely blinded by rage.

So, to ensure the beast's safety, he went to meet the Xiang Jianzong himself.

The Xiang Jianzong, moved by the fact that the beast had immediately tried to make amends upon learning the truth, had no intention of killing him—only imposing minor punishment.

But no one expected Yi Feng would later be corrupted and defect to the Cang clan.

As a result, without realizing it, he used Jie Ye's name to steal one of Silutang's greatest treasures, the 【Thunder霄 Red Fall Vessel】, and fled into the stars.

At that time, the human population in the stars was still small.

Yet this beast, wielding the power of the 【Thunder霄 Red Fall Vessel】, shattered the defensive arrays and eradicated several inhabited human planets.

Nearly five hundred million people died because of it!

When he arrived in the stars upon hearing the news, the beast had already deceived the Starfront Wardens using Silutang's treasure and crossed the frontline of the star war.

He tried to rush forward and kill the beast—but the Cang Ancestor, "Xuan," appeared in person.

Merely a single glance across the void nearly killed him.

Precisely because of this, Xiang Jianzong Dao-brother, who had only just returned to the Central Continent not long ago, had no choice but to set aside the various matters in hand and rush once more to the Starry Sky frontline battlefield.

"To be able to remedy this regret today, Jie Ye thanks you here."

The others, seeing this, hurriedly returned the courtesy.

"Senior, you're too polite."

"Fellow Daoist, you speak too gravely. It was merely what ought to be done, no need for such formality…"

Some were of the same generation, some were juniors, but their cultivation was all nearly on par with his.

Jie Ye slowly straightened up; before his eyes, it seemed to return to those years gone by — a summer night bright with moonlight, when he had picked up two brothers still in their swaddling clothes by the roadside.

Now, thinking back on it, as a master, he truly was not much of a qualified one…

"With this, I can finally dare to go and see Xiang Jianzong Dao-brother again."

Back then, Xiang Jianzong Dao-brother had rushed to the Starry Sky frontline battlefield and sent him, gravely wounded and at death's door, back to the Central Continent.

After his injuries had healed, he had felt too ashamed to face Xiang Jianzong Dao-brother and the fellow disciples within the sect, so he left the sect and wandered about the various reaches of the Starry Sky, making amends for the mistake born of his failure to judge a man aright.

And now, once he had finished handling some matters in hand, it was time to go back and take a look as well.

"Might I ask if any of you know the whereabouts of Xiang Jianzong Dao-brother?"

"Xiang Jianzong Senior is together with my master." Ji Yin Xue said suddenly.

Hm?

Cheng Ding beside him gave a start.

My master went to the Hehuan Sect to find that senior?!

The others likewise all showed odd expressions.

Xiang Jianzong Senior (Dao-brother) went to the Hehuan Sect?

"If Senior has any instructions, once I return to the sect I can convey them on your behalf."

All the handover procedures had been completed long ago; had the Cang Clan not suddenly launched a large-scale attack, she would likely have already returned to the Central Continent.

"At this moment I don't quite know what to say either." Jie Ye, on the other hand, was rather composed. "Better wait until Xiang Jianzong Dao-brother returns to the sect, then I'll go see him."

That fellow Daoist has always been rather mysterious, yet is well acquainted with Xiang Jianzong Dao-brother.

It's nothing more than paying a visit to a friend — what's so strange about that.

……

……

Crossing the frontline battlefield, where Dao-essence was interwoven and severed limbs piled high.

Was a region today's human race could not set foot in — the Other Shore of the Starry Sky.

True Immortals held station over the Central Continent; within the Other Shore was covered by the Great Dao — wherever the power of True Immortals reached.

And the Other Shore of the Starry Sky was where the power of True Immortals could scarcely reach, the place of refuge of the Cang Clan.

Far beyond count from the frontline battlefield, myriad stars arched in homage around a grand purple-qi Dao-field.

Every inch exuded an air of indestructibility and incorruptibility, encompassing every hint of the extraordinary, profound and hard to fathom, as if expounding all the mysteries of the world.

Right at the center of that Dao-field, where tens of millions of purple qi converged, a figure with an indistinct, blurred face sat upon a Dao-platform. Compared with that Dao-field, which towered above the stars and was nearly boundless, that figure itself was no more than a speck of dust.

Yet should any living being step within, they would find that dust-speck figure immeasurably vast, as if the sum total of 'Dao' and 'Principle'.

Even this boundless, indestructible and incorruptible purple-qi Dao-field was nothing more than the faintest ripple stirred up by a finger passing across.

And at this moment, He was looking with cool indifference at the figure seated opposite Him: "This arrangement was still a touch too hasty."

"The loss this time is but a single member of the human race — no great matter."

Within the halo of temporal light behind His head, infinite light and shadow flowed and shifted; His glazed-glass eyes shimmered with seven-colored radiance.

It was none other than the Ancestor of the Cang Clan, 'Xuan' and 'Gu'.

Because previously Xuan's scheme had succeeded — driving Xiang Jianzong and several other True Immortals of the human race out of Tai Xuan Tian, and seizing part of the 'Hun Tian Yi' that the human True Immortals had been suppressing.

Added to that, after Xiang Jianzong returned, he went straight deep into the domain of the past, breaking into 'Ancient Tai Xuan Tian', nearly bringing about a great catastrophe.

Thus Gu had diverted a portion of His own attention to this side of the Other Shore of the Starry Sky, so that Xuan could be reinforced at any moment.

After all, what mattered most now was the method of 'Building the Heaven Pass'.

"After being tempered by bloodline, reborn anew, that Yi Feng is already of the Cang Clan." Xuan said blandly.

"Not so." Gu did not see it that way. "Although the bloodline has changed, he still keeps the matters of the human race in his heart — merely guiding the Cang body with a human heart, that is all."

After diverting a measure of attention to the Other Shore of the Starry Sky, He had focused especially on those members of the human race who, influenced by Him over the years, had come here.

The vast majority of them truly did believe themselves to be of the Cang Clan, filled with hatred toward the human race.

But there were also a small number who still kept in their hearts all that had happened when they were still with the human race.

"Moreover, how could this arrangement possibly be entirely without risk? A few losses were within expectation."

Today's human race and Cang Clan faced each other across the Starry Sky frontline battlefield.

But when existences at the level of 'Immortal' or 'Ancestor' did not personally enter the fray, the balance between the two sides was very hard to break.

The vitality of high-level cultivators was simply too tenacious.

Even if the physical body was destroyed and the divine soul perished utterly, so long as one's own Dao still existed, one could recover.

But the problem was that today's human race dwelt upon the Central Continent, and the number of high-level cultivators kept growing.

Whereas the Cang Clan now was exiled to the Other Shore of the Starry Sky, finding it hard to advance to Dao Merging.

One side waxing as the other waned… this balance would one day be broken.

But not long ago, yet another Cang Clan member at the limit of Cave-True reached the final step of 'Building the Heaven Pass'.

Thus, in order to blind those True Immortals of the human race, and also to try increasing the number of high-level cultivators,

They had arranged a large-scale attack.

The reason for also adding members of the human race who had come to the Other Shore of the Starry Sky to head for the frontline was also to see whether they could cross the frontline battlefield and slip into the Central Continent to advance to Dao Merging!

It's best if he succeeds.

If he fails, it's no great loss.

"What a pity. He originally had a very good chance of advancing." The purple eyes gazed into the distance.

Unlike Gu, Xuan was quite regretful.

As a former prodigy of the Xiang Jianzong, having also learned many wondrous methods of the Cang Clan over the years, if that Yifeng could successfully infiltrate the Central Continent, the possibility of his advancing to Dao Merging was still very high.

"Since it has failed, there's no use saying more." Gu said slowly.

The Starry Sky frontline battlefield was now considered both sides' bottom line; once touched, matters would tip in an unforeseeable direction.

Neither race wished to begin the final decisive battle so soon.

Suddenly!

As if sensing something, they both fell silent at once.

Within the dao arena, purple qi flowed in silence.

No one knew how long the quiet lasted…

"He still failed in the end." Xuan sighed softly.

Slowly raising his hand, he reached forward levelly and pressed his palms together.

Not the slightest anomaly, nor any trace of dao resonance.

But when he opened his hands again, a strange crystal with countless edges and faces hovered silently.

Within it seemed to flow the light of many concepts — past, destiny, cause and effect, future, ending — unifying countless concepts and encompassing infinite meaning.

Wisps of purple qi coiled around it, suppressing its expansion.

A Dao Slave!

Clearly, that Cang clansman of the Dong Zhen realm who had reached the final step of the 'Heaven-Forging Pass' ultimately failed and became a Dao Slave.

"As expected, the risk of this 'Heaven-Forging Pass' method is even greater than that of the 'Dao Extremity' immortality method."

This was already the third Dong Zhen Cang clansman to fail.

For the Cang Clan, where every high-level cultivator lost was one fewer, this was nothing short of adding frost to snow.

"Proving the Dao is hard." Gu sighed at the sight, then asked, "Have you still not found a suitable world in the Chaos Sea?"

"Not yet."

In today's Grand Xuan Realm, the human True Immortals held great power and occupied the Central Continent, making it difficult for newborn Cang clansmen to achieve Dao Merging.

So they could only think of ways outside the realm — that is, in the Chaos Sea.

Unfortunately, there were no suitable worlds among the realms near the Grand Xuan Realm.

The only one that met the requirements, the Beast God Realm, had been discovered by the Xiang Jianzong one step ahead, and now because of Hun Tian Yi's suicidal antics within it, the world itself could hardly give birth to a Dao Merging cultivator…

Gu paused: "You should have explored further into more distant realms before this."

Xuan: "…"

Explore further into more distant realms?

Such a casually tossed-off line — easy for you to say.

How much preparation have I made over these years?

Did you not see it? (End of chapter)